Nominees for the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards were announced Wednesday night. The broadcast will take place Jan. 31, 2010, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Here is a shortened list of nominees from the major categories... »»

As far as I can piece together, I made this mixtape specifically because I was going up to Lafayette for my Spring Break '98 (it was great having cousins in PA when I was in MD). I'm pretty sure I made it for the long bus ride. Anyway, it's a dope little snapshot into me from 11 years ago. ... »»

Since I was off on Tuesday, and there was no way in hell I was going to go all the way down to Fells Point for just one disc, I planned on picking up Mos Def's latest offering on Wednesday. Little did I know that this modest plan would completely derail my night. ... »»

It's a very peculiar sensation to know that history is occurring around you. I felt that way back in 1991 when I first heard "Smells Like Teen Spirit" on the radio, as suddenly the entirety of the "hair metal" movement of the '80s was wiped off the musical map, loser of a war that it never even knew was coming. I can only imagine that people like Muddy Waters felt much the same way when Elvis Presley and the forces of rock n' roll wiped the blues out of the minds of America's youth, just like that. »»

2008 was a nutty year. ... Local record stores moved closer to extinction, rap continued its descent into inanity and BET is still the most depressing channel. ... But why dwell on the negative? Here are my picks for the best albums of 2008, in alphabetical order, as always. ... »»

Ok, so a few months ago I made a reference to the two things that totally occupied my musical interests. The one that I addressed in that piece was demos; the other that I was fixated on back then was instrumentals, or more accurately, instrumental versions of albums.
Now, I've always been a fan of instrumentals. For me, instrumentals were one of the main draws when it came to purchasing singles. Sure, you might get a remix or an occasional b-side, but you were nearly always guaranteed an instrumental. I even copped Tupac's single for "Dear Mama" because I thought that the instrumental was solid.
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OK, so last time I gave you a rundown of the albums that Entertainment Weekly had deemed "The New Classics." I even provided their ranking. Now, it's time for me to gripe about who I think was snubbed, in terms of hip-hop.
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Michel Gondry is a director who has become widely known for his unique and stylized films from his mostly ignored first film Human Nature to the highly acclaimed Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind. His latest project, Be Kind Rewind, received mixed reviews upon its theatrical release. Some loved it, some hated it, but who was right? »»